Actually I'm kind of an old turtle but I digress. I've been trying all the old standbys used to break stalls, but the weight comes off at an excruciatingly slow pace. For the last 2 years I've been staying away from carbs for the most part doing Atkins - although I was on Schwarzbein for a while. I decided that the sheer volume I ate was part of the problem - low carb or not, 3000 calories is probably too much for a 5'2" old woman. Last summer I got an adjustable gastric band installed to curb the vast amounts I ate. Since then I've lost 35 pounds but that's over 7 months, averaging out to about 1.1 lbs per week. The down side is that since November I've been bouncing around over the same few pounds (247-255). The weight is very slowly going down. I just saw 247 for the first time this morning.

I met with my first endochrinologist last week and he was thrilled that I had the surgery and was doing low carb. He gave me a couple of new anti-diabetic drugs (blood sugar was still nuts) and prognosticated that I'd come back next month having lost 20 lbs. I did point out that it was not the bypass I had and that the average for the band was 1-2 lbs a week. He said "well, okay 10 lbs will be great." I may have lost my 1 lb this week, but it's usually several days before that new number stays put. I predict that 2 lbs for the month will be the outcome. That's with the help of the 2 new meds to keep my BG down. I know this isn't a race but a way of life - but it's still frustrating.

My job is to just keep moving and doing what I'm doing. The progress is there, it's just hard not to compare myself with other people - low carb and lap banders. This is better because I wasn't losing at all the year before.

Ahh! It's so nice to see some new posts to this forum! I was starting to feel like the only turtle among a bunch of jack rabbits. I agree with you Frogbreath, it is frustrating! Part of me will always hope to see a big drop on the scale. I have a long history of diet and exercise and I have lost serious lbs in the past but painfully slowly (at most 3 lbs a month) and with alot of sweat. When the lbs crept back on and the exercise got me nowhere fast, the doc said to try this lcing thing. After two weeks... down 2 lbs. Only other turtles can appreciate the speed of that drop! And that was without expercise and not really doing induction. This week I went for broke (induction). Tomorrow is weigh in day and I'm actually pretty scared to get on the scale. That comes from years of not weighing in weekly because of the fluctuations you were talking about. Anyway, whatever the scale says, I am sticking to it because I feel better and I suprisingly don't miss the carbs. I will also add exercise this week.

You keep hanging in there Frogbreath because time does march on and quite quickly at that. Before you know it all these little losses are going to add up to one large total!

Thanks Diane,

Imagine the poor surgeon who did my gastric band. He's expecting to see a loss between 1 and 2 lbs a week. I think he's in a box and sees all weight problems through the lens of overeating - just volume - maybe with a little trouble picking the right foods. The first time I saw him with a weight gain instead of loss (six weeks between visits) he thought I needed another fill (making the band tighter). He overdid it and I couldn't eat solids for three weeks until I insisted he take some out. I tried to explain the "insulin-resistant, too much insulin, too much cortisol, fat making cycle" and he didn't get it. That's when I realized he's a surgeon, a cutter and paster, and he's good at that. For anything else I'd better go back to a doctor who sees the whole problem.

He suggested that maybe I needed to talk to the nutritionist to see if I'm eating the right things. He must think I'm an idiot.

One thing is for sure, we have to rise above everyone else's judgments of our slow weight loss. We catch it from all sides.

Too true! I remember once years ago I went to a "diet doctor" who put me on a liquid diet. I was to have only these shakes and fruit and water. I stuck to it like glue because heck, if I were going to pay the exorbatent fee I was going to work at it. He said come back in a week and you will have lost 8 to 12 lbs. Needless to say I lost 2. He was certain I cheated. I never went back. I have to say that out of all the diets I've been on this has been the most successful for me. After 3 weeks I am down 4 lbs. But much more than that I feel great. I had no idea I was so carbo intolerant. So many of my medical complaints have eased or gone a way completely. I'd like to say I wish I knew then what I know now, but I probably would not have been ready to hear it before anyway.
By the way, I think your surgeon is the one who needs to talk to the nutritionist!